Officers tackle man they say pulled a gun

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Not dead, could be: Roderick Turner, 49, was booked on suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, weapons violations, and resisting arrest.

Police chose to sack a man instead of shooting him in the Tenderloin early this morning, even after he drew a .380.

Officers were investigating reports of a man with a handgun on the 300 block of Ellis Street at about 4 a.m. The description matched Roderick Turner, 49, who immediately put his hand in his right jacket pocket and walked away, police said.

Turner began running west on Ellis Street, allegedly pulling out a chrome handgun.

Despite fearing that Turner would shoot them, the cops decided to tackle him. The officers worried they might shoot bystanders in a crowd gathered at Ellis and Jones streets, said Officer Albie Esparza, police spokesman.

One officer grabbed Turner, who then allegedly turned toward him with the gun in his right hand. The officer threw him on the ground, and both tumbled into the intersection where Turner lost grasp of the gun.

Turner was booked for resisting arrest, weapons violations and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The .380 caliber semi-automatic weapon contained five live rounds.

Esparza is not identifying the officers involved, but called their decision not to shoot “commendable” and “very brave.”

“They’re risking their own lives,” he said.

The decision to sack but not shoot comes on the heels of an officer-involved shooting on Sept. 17 that wounded two bystanders. The three officers involved in that shooting were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.